AROUND CAMPUS

The San Perlita PTO met last week. They will be sponsoring a Valentine's Day King and Queen Contest for elementary school students. Winners will be crowned at the Valentine's Day sock hop to be held on Valentine's Day. Information regarding the contest was sent home with students.

The San Perlita Relay for Life Team has kicked off their fundraising for this year's event. Last year, they raised over $3,000 to help fight can- cer, and this year they have set a goal of $5,000. In addition to, Coins for a Cure, other activities will include weekly bake sales and luminaria bags, which individuals can purchase "in memory of" a relative or friend who has lost the battle to cancer or " in honor of" a cancer survivor. The luminaria ceremony will take place at this year's 2012 Relay for Life of Willacy County, which is scheduled for April 13th.

At Monday's meeting of the Board of Trustees, students of the month for December were honored as follows: Kylie Muñoz, Pre- K; David Rodriguez, Kindergarten; Jessalyn Rodriguez, 1st; Aliyah Garcia, 2nd, Benito Gutierrez, 3rd. Jonathan Herrera, 4th; Krystin Kilbourn, 5th; Alyson Alcorn, 6th; Noah Ortiz, 7th; Viviana Razo, 8th; Adriana Lopez, 9th; George Reoh, 10th; John Garza, 11th; Jonathan Maldonado, 12th Ted Gutierrez of the maintenance/ transportation department was recognized as the employee of the month for December.

January is also School Board Recognition Month. Board members were honored for their commitment to the children of the district and presented with tokens of appreciation from various campus groups. The theme of this year's recognition month is Helping Our Kids Shine. Members of the SPISD Board of Trustees include Mrs. Melissa P. Guadiana, President; Mrs. Nora T. Vasquez, Vicepresident; Mrs. Maggie Sepulveda, Secretary, and members Mrs. Enedelia Cavazos, Ms. Frances Rodriguez, Mr. David Rodriguez, and Mr. Felipe Quiroga.

Approximately fifteen San Perlita FFA members will be participating in the Willacy County Livestock Show later this week. Students have been working with their animals since as far back as last March or April.

Although most of our students raise and exhibit swine, Jonathan Maldonado will compete in the goat division, and Savannah and Cameron Chappell will be showing their steers and heifers. The lambs and goats show Thursday, steers and heifers Friday, followed by hogs on Friday night. Animals will be auctioned off Saturday night. The San Perlita FFA is under the direction of agricultural science teacher, Mr. Juan Muñoz. SPORTS TALK

The middle school boys continued their winning streak by defeating Lasara last Thursday. The seventh grade won 34- 12, with Ernest Stratton scoring with 10 points. Daniel Garza added 8, and Bryan Rojas, Garrett Willis, and Joseph Hernandez had four each. The eighth grade score was 25- 19, with Robert Cavazos and Daniel Suarez each in double figures with 10 points.

The high school teams continued district play with hardfought contests at Lasara last Tuesday. The JV boys opened up the evening with a victory behind Michael Johnson's 12 points, with solid contributions from Marcelino Rodriguez, Adrian Rodriguez, and George Reoh. After a 6- 6 first quarter, the girls fell behind by two at the half and six at the end of three quarters. In the fourth, clutch 3 pointers by Alexis Nyquist and Hope Fambrough closed the gap, but sporadic free throw shooting ( 8- 17 in the quarter) proved costly in a 43- 41 loss.

The boys played the Lions even through one half, going into the locker room knotted up at 24 apiece. The pivotal third quarter saw the visiting Trojans take a seven point lead, as James Marshall scored eight of his team high 20 and Josh Rodriguez added a three pointer to build a 38-31 lead. The Trojans kept the Lions at bay in the fourth, escaping with a 47-40 win, not pretty, but still going down in the "W" column.

On Friday, Bruni came to town to open the second half of district play for the ladies. After going up 19- 1 in the first quarter, the Lady Trojans never looked back, as they cruised to a 47-19 victory over the Lady Badgers, led by 16 points from Hope Fambrough and 13 from Amy Trevino.

The boys handed the Badgers a 66- 32 loss in the nightcap, paced by 15 from Andres Watson, 13 from Marshall, and 11 from Ethan Rabenaldt.

The win puts the boys at 4-0 in district, with a trip into San Isidro standing between them and a perfect first half of district play. The availability of senior guard Ruben Flores is in question, due to an eye injury suffered against Bruni. The girls' win betters their record to 3-3. In fourth place in the district, they are still on the outside looking in at the playoff race, but have four games to go and have been playing much tougher as of late. UPCOMING EVENTS

There will be no school this Friday, January 27th due to the Willacy County Stock Show. The UIL elementary/ middle school district meet will take place at San Perlita on Tuesday January 31st and Saturday February 4th Students will be released at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday the 31st. The San Perlita homecoming celebration will take place on Friday February 3rd.